ALTON - A 23-year-old entrepreneur - Anna Massalone - is coming home to her roots in Alton with her new Dolci di Anna shop. The English translation of the Italian term, Dolci, is desserts. Massalone and her husband, Isaiah Houck, visited Italy in 2019 and she was inspired greatly by the culture.
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She continued, “My family came from Sicily, and visiting the country gave me a new respect for the value of food and it’s presentation.”
Massalone, will make her debut in downtown Alton next month as owner and operator of Dolci di Anna, a bakery specializing in custom cakes. Massalone will also serve other desserts and coffee at her shop located at 305 State St., from 7:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.
“It has been a long time coming with researching and work to get here,” she said. “I am really excited to do it. I had partners in Edwardsville to get my start, but I am going on my own and taking a chance to be what I wanted to be in Alton. I have always lived in Alton and I love the history of the community. I am really excited.”
Massalone, 23, started doing research on business ownership in 2017. She had a brief start-up in Edwardsville in the spring of 2020 and quickly found her niche making cakes for events such as weddings, bridal showers, birthdays, graduations, and anniversary parties before COVID-19 put a halt on her plans. Massalone said, “In the end, it’s working out for the best because I’m an Alton girl and I couldn’t be more excited about moving forward in my hometown.”
Massalone, also an artist, found a way to blend her love of creating and baking to make occasions truly special. She said, “What I love most about what I do is seeing people happy with my product. I want to help create a welcoming environment.” She added her most popular cakes have been lemon raspberry, chocolate meltdown, and everything strawberry.
Orders can be made by contacting Massalone at 618-334-7647,annamassalone@gmail.com or via Facebook
@Dolci di Anna.
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